Month: October 2014

The NorthWest Ballet Theater and Academy put on a fabulous evening of ballet at the Mt. Baker Theatre in Bellingham Washington last weekend. This production of Dracula, based upon the classic Bram Stoker novel, was both exciting and entertaining at the same time. Director and choreographer John Bishop showed his incredible talent with his direction of a most talented cast.

Other reviews of the show when presented at the McIntyre Hall mentioned a standing ovation. The MBT presentation was equally received by the audience. Joshua Deininger danced the lead role of Count Dracula. His techniques have been honed to near perfection, and his interpretation of the sinister undead character of the night just oozed from his stage presence.

Amanda Alexander was also delightful to watch as she danced the part of the wicked Queen Wraith, a partner in crime with the Count. Shannan McCormick Behrens as Mina Harker was outstanding as well. Delci Syvertson was cast as the victim of Dracula’s seductive powers, and the others in the performance were very well received. This ballet company has and continues to provide world class performances in Northwest Washington venues.

MBT

Director John Bishop has gone on record saying that the October performances of Dracula will be a yearly event. Make sure to check your calendar in 2015 and catch next year’s NorthWest Ballet production of Dracula.

Yesterday evening we had a fun time at a local event outside of Snohomish, Washington. We went to a local farm named Craven Farm to witness their Pumpkin Glow event. This facility had given 100 pumpkins to the local Boys and Girls Club. They also offered free pumpkins and carving tools anybody else who brought their kids.

The carved pumpkins were put on a pyramid frame. Just at dark the “friendly Harvest Witch” told some stories and then after a countdown all the pumpkins were lit up! It was really fun to see, and the throng of kids were delighted as well.

We really enjoyed this event. Local happenings like this are great to seek out and attend.

Ok, how many of you RVers out there still have the mattress that came with your RV? If you do, you sure had a better mattress when you bought your RV than we had in ours. The mattress in our master BR was a five inch thick thing that appeared to be stuffed with the same material in a carnival prize stuffed animal. We both were waking up with backaches after sleepless nights.

This is the mattress we bought from Mattress Insider

Sher began to check around for a different mattress. She found theMattressInsider.com site on the web. Long story short, this site is a gold mine for RV replacement and custom made mattresses.

We looked at the many styles of mattresses and felt that we really would prefer steel coil construction for the firm support. We found the 8″ Park Meadow Pocketed Coil RV Mattress II. We placed our order by phone and received the mattress seven days after it shipped with free shipping.

Wow. This mattress is more comfortable than the one we had in our house. Backaches have gone. We sleep at night. (Now there is a concept!) We just love this mattress and should have ordered it sooner.

Don’t even hesitate to do business with Mattress Insider. They were great to work with on the phone. Delivery was as promised. Set up was easy: simply remove the packaging and the mattress unrolls itself. (The package is about the size of a 30 gallon drum, weighs about 70 pounds.) Let it “expand” for 3 hours and you are good to go.

Guarantee? You bet. If before 100 nights you are not satisfied, simply donate the mattress to a charity, get a receipt for same, and send the receipt to the company for a full refund. No sending the mattress back to the company on your nickel!

Need a new mattress for your RV? Browse the Mattress Insider website and/or call them at 1-888-327-3047. You will not be disappointed working with these great folks.

We had a delicious dinner tonight at The Table by Bellingham Pasta Co. It was located next door to the Mount Baker Theater where we went to see the Northwest Ballet present “Dracula”. Maj had spaghetti with meatballs and marinara sauce, and I had spaghetti with marinara sauce. Their pasta is made on site daily and they use locally grown and produced items. It was so good, we both loved it and plan on eating there again before we head back to Indiana. We are giving them a 5 star rating. If you are in the Seattle area we highly recommend stopping by for lunch or dinner. There website is Bellingham Pasta.

This past summer we were in western Pennsylvania and stopped in the town of Beaver. Here we found a delightful pizza and pasta restaurant. Mario’s Woodfired Pizza is right downtown. The day was pretty so we decided to eat at a table outside.

I had the Veal Parmesan on a bed of pasta, and Sher ordered a veggie pizza. The veal was the best I have had in a long time. The veggie pizza was huge. Both of us were stuffed after we were done.

This is a great restaurant, and we would recommend that you find it when you visit the historic town of Beaver.

A quick stop at the Rest Area on the northbound side of I-5 at mile marker 207 (north of Seattle, Washington) led to a surprise. There next to the rest room building was a huge tree “stump” with a roof mounted on top. I had to investigate! It turns out that this huge tree has quite a history, including being moved for display more than once.

The story of this Western Red Cedar reads like a historic novel. If only it could talk and give some details about those who over the years came in contact with this magnificent tree. Loggers like Ole Rodway and Ole Reinseth must have been real characters.

The Claim Jumper restaurant in Lynnwood, Washington proved to be a great dining experience. We had not been to this chain of restaurants before, and enjoyed a nice meal with our daughter and son-in-law.

Delicious hot bread began our dining experience!

The atmosphere was rustic, as the name might imply. The decor was of a western mode, and the chandeliers were actually made of lights and deer antlers. The food was very good, and the selection on the menu was varied to provide selections for any appetite, including vegetarian. The Widow Maker burger was my choice. I’d say go for it when you dine here!

Prices were in the moderate range, but the quality of the food did make the meal worth the pricing. The service was good, the staff friendly, and we felt genuinely welcomed to the establishment. The restaurant is located at 18725 33rd Ave. W in Lynnwood.

Occasionally something will catch you eye as you are out and about. This happened to Sher and I a couple of days ago. We were in the town of Stanwood, Washington checking out the old buildings. We had read about one old saloon being haunted, complete with people spotting ghostly visions in second floor windows. Imagine our surprise when we at the same time spotted this faint figure in a second floor window!